"While randomly trawling the web this afternoon I discovered that a Norwich-based club called Gothic FC existed in the 1960s and 70s," muses Pete Green. "Presumably they didn't all wear black, but does anyone know why they were called that or anything else about them?"

You've got us stumped on Gothic FC Pete - we can't tell you anything beyond the fact non-league Norwich United borrowed their Heartsease Lane ground for a stint while looking for a new ground in the late 1980s. We're guessing they must have had a fondness for pointed arches, ribbed vaults and flying buttresses. We did, however, stumble across the appalling Real Goth FC, a team of goth musicians, who play a team of locals twice a year in the sunny seaside resort of Whitby, home to Europe's largest biannual goth festival. And yes, the kit is all black, the club crest is inspired by the Sisters of Mercy logo, though make-up is generally removed before kick-off.

According to Philip Oltermann's article in the Guardian's Weekend magazine, "the match tradition started in 2004, when Mike Uwins, guitarist for Manuskript, got talking to a reporter from the Whitby Gazette. With their white face paint and bolted belts, Uwins admits, goths might have looked intimidating to the residents of Whitby - football changed that. 'The first match was a horribly drunken performance on our behalf. We lost 1-10, but once you've kicked lumps out of each other on the pitch, it's much easier to start a conversation.' Nowadays pubs in Whitby carry signs reading 'Goths Welcome'.

"In April 2004, however, relations between goths and locals suffered a minor setback. Jim Moyle remembers: 'One of our players, Geoff, went for a high ball and clashed heads with the Whitby player. He left two teeth in his opponent's forehead. Given Whitby's Dracula connection, you can imagine the headlines.'"

The goths won a seven-goal thriller 4-3 in this year's October fixture, though from pictures of the event there seems to be a disappointing lack of hair, tattoos and piercings, and a rather unwieldy 22-man Real Goth squad. They must have a rotation policy.

DEADLIEST CATCH

"Is next year's group of Holland, Italy, France and Romania the deadliest group ever at a European Championship or World Cup?" asks Michael Ellis.

While the 'group of death' label may have become a fairly devalued currency, Holland, France and Italy (not to mention Romania) will certainly be facing a struggle to survive at next year's European Championships. The average Fifa ranking of the teams in Group C is 8, but this is not the most statistically perilous collection of hopefuls to have been thrown together since the ranking system began.

The 'deadliest' group of death, by some way, belongs to Group C in the 1996 European Championship. While England dealt with Holland and Scotland, eventual victors Germany (at the time ranked No2 in the world) were lumped in with Russia (3), Italy (7), and Czech Republic (10), giving a bone-chilling average of 5.5. France were also forced to negotiate a hazardous passage through the group stage on the way to winning Euro 2000. Although the average team ranking was 9.75, this was skewed by Holland being positioned at 21 when the tournament began, despite going on to top the group.

Before the ranking system came into existence in 1993, however, the title surely must go to Argentina, Brazil and Italy being drawn together in the second group stage of the 1982 World Cup, with only one to qualify. This system was only used once ... perhaps because it killed off big teams rather too quickly.

Not particularly well, is the simple answer, Lee. In terms of this ratio, Healy has been hampered by scoring four on Northern Ireland's Caribbean tour of 2004, plus a hat-trick against world No162s Liechtenstein earlier this year. When his 33 international goals are tallied, Healy ends up with an average of 76.18, dumping him at the foot of our current table behind Michael Owen, Robbie Keane and Peter Crouch, and equating him with Oman.

KNOWLEDGE ARCHIVE

"How did it transpire that Kazakhstan falls under Uefa's jurisdiction while Uzbekistan, their neighbour to the south, play in the Asian department?" wondered Mikael Colville-Andersen in 2005.

This goes back to 2002, Mikael, when Kazakhstan became the 52nd member association of Uefa. Despite its location in the heart of Asia (bordering China, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Russia and, of course, Uzbekistan), the Kazakhs were keen to leave the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) behind. It could well have had something to do with their failure to qualify for the 2002 World Cup, when they had finished their qualifying group unbeaten, and with an identical record to Iraq, who eventually progressed. But, officially at least, their addition was seen as a return to the fold, having formerly been a part of the Uefa-affiliated USSR.

"They had resigned from the AFC and in that sense were homeless," explained Mike Lee, former Uefa communications director, at the time. "They believe that they're more naturally European, they want to be more European-turning in their outlook as a nation and as an economy. If a country has a historical and territorial base that is relevant it has a right to pursue that." Kazakhstan FA president Rakhat Aliyev added: "Practically speaking, it means more contacts with Europe and more investment projects. It will also lead to a better future for players and especially young people in the country. It will lead to a higher professional level."

"A friend and I were trying to work out how the order of the club crests were decided in the beginning sequence of Match of the Day last season," begins Will Bouma. "The BBC have failed to answer my question, so does anyone know?"

"While trawling Wikipedia I came across former goalkeeper Geninho from Brazil, I was astonished to see the number of clubs he seems to have managed," writes Timothy Abraham. "Surely Geninho must be a record holder with 33 different spells in charge of teams?"

"During the 1976-77 First Division game between Derby County and Manchester City at the Baseball Ground, one of the penalty spots had to be repainted prior to a penalty being taken," recalls Graham Clayton. "Have there been any other examples in top-flight football where pitch markings have had to be repainted in the course of a game?"

"What is the greatest number of consecutive games in which a team has repeated the exact same scoreline?" wonders Ian O'Flaherty.